


Interlude

by heavy_cream



Series: Embers [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angsty Schmoop, Background Relationships, Established Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Feelings, Feels, Fluff, M/M, Off-screen Relationship(s), i can only write the schmoop, i can't believe that's a tag, middle aged, the angst lasts for like a sentence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 12:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9385601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavy_cream/pseuds/heavy_cream
Summary: "Do you regret it?""Regret what?""Never getting married"





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be up on Monday. I am heavily sleep deprived, please forgive my truly atrocious spelling, I will fix it.
> 
> Woefully unbetaed.
> 
> Edit: I fixed it.

It was late by the time they drove home back from Scott's and Kira's anniversary party. The streets of Beacon Hills were empty and dark, a soft mist had fallen over the tree tops so that the horizon faded into a foggy line in the distance. Stiles let out a pleased sigh disrupting the quiet and Derek looked over briefly as he idled at a stop light.

"All right?" He asked and accelerated when the light turned green.

"Yeah," Stiles sighed again, enjoying the softness that the late hour brought and watched the sleepy town go by. He'd liked the big cities, the few years he had lived away from Beacon Hills, had enjoyed the university campus, his stint at Quantico had been great. And yet there was something that had always pulled him back, something about Beacon Hills that made him _yearn_.

He watched the buildings give way to the forest and felt himself settle even more as the woods and the night surrounded them. He'd encountered countless dangers in those woods, beasts of all kinds, and yet he had never felt as home as he did running through undergrowth guided solely by instinct and moonlight.

He glanced at Derek then, shrouded in the dark, illuminated faintly by the headlights and the pale moon, and thought that the forest wasn't the only thing dark and dangerous in Beacon Hills.

"It's good, seeing all the guys together again," Stiles said quietly after a moment, and Derek smiled softly. He'd been happy to see the pack as well, happiest of them all perhaps, a quiet contentment thrummed off of his skin so palpable even Stiles had been able to sense it.

"And I can't believe Mina and Amy are sixteen already," Stiles added referring to Scott's and Kira's twins. "How did that happen, we were spoon feeding them tamales like five minutes ago," he whined.

"Can you spoon feed a tamale?" Derek wondered, crossing the bridge that lead to the Industrial area and the loft, their home.

"Fork feed, whatever, not the point," Stiles replied, waving a hand exasperated.

"What is the point?"

"That they can't be sixteen because that would make us old."

"Honey," Derek said reaching over to take hold of Stiles hands and lift it to his lips, "I hate to break it to you, but we are that old." 

"You don't look a day older than 40," Stiles added deadpan and Derek huffed out a laugh, let go of his hand to shift gears. 

"A couple of years more and they'll be leaving for college," Derek continued thoughtfully and Stiles squawked.

" _Oh my God_ ", Stiles exclaimed pained and Derek tried to hide a smile. 

"You know," Derek started with mock innocence, "they are as old now as you were when we first met." He took his eyes off the road long enough to look at Stiles who had stayed silent, and watched as a series of emotions chased each other on Stiles face. The silence stretched on for a moment, Stiles clearly unable to settle on a horrific realization to comment on.

"Oh my God, I was a _child_ ," he finally said and Derek patted his leg in sympathy. "Did I look as young as them?"

"Younger, possibly," Derek replied and Stiles poked him in the arm. A cute gesture that accomplished nothing but making him feel even fonder for Stiles. 

He was quiet a moment longer, suddenly pensive. "I didn't feel young, you know? I mean, sometimes I did, when it all was too much, but most of the time, I didn't feel young."

"I know. You were a kid, and so were the others and I..." Derek trailed off then. They didn't talk about it much, but Stiles knew, that no matter how much he loved his pack, how happy he was to have them, there was guilt there, at how it all had come to be. It was Stiles who reached out to him then, placing his hand on Derek's, thumb stroking over knuckles. He didn't say anything, there was nothing to say, their story had had an ill beginning, one that got a lot worse before it got better. There was no changing the past, there was only moving forward. 

"It worked out alright," Stiles said after a moment. "We grew up, mostly, people got married with each other, Jackson embraced the gay, and we just celebrated Scott's and Kira's twentieth anniversary."

Derek hummed and grew thoughtful, his index finger tapping on the steering wheel for a moment. "Do you regret it?"

"Regret what?" 

"Never getting married," Derek asked deceptively calm, eyes focused on the street. Stiles stared at him.

"Where is this coming from?" he blurted out bewildered because the mood had suddenly changed, the air felt chilled and tense, the easy, content feeling dissipated completely.

"It's not an unreasonable question, Stiles," Derek answered annoyance furrowing his brow.

"Do _you_ regret it?" Stiles asked instead suddenly annoyed because this was not something that they did, they had been together for years, decades, they were as permanent as they could be. There had never been a question before.

Derek stopped the car, Stiles only then noticing they had arrived at their loft and promptly climbed out. Stiles cursed, got out himself and caught up with Derek who'd made his way almost to the door, his legs eating up the ground easily.

"Hey no, you can't just drop that on me and then walk away Derek," Stiles grabbed him by the elbow and Derek, who could have easily freed himself, who could have without any effort, tossed Stiles across the parking lot, stopped. "What gives?" Stiles insisted, confused, unsettled about a fight he didn't even understand. "We never talk about this," he added and Derek whirled around to face him.

"That's exactly why I'm asking you now, because we _never_ did talk about it," Derek explained angrily and it's the years between them that allowed Stiles to see what this was really about, to see the guilt and anxiety underneath it all. Even after all the time they had been together, there were still moments like these where Derek's or Stiles past would creep up in unexpected, terrifying ways.

"Because we never needed to, Derek," Stiles said softly, emphasizing his words by squeezing down on his arm. He let out his breath carefully, consciously relaxing his posture, his shoulders and stepped closer. "Derek, there was never anything temporary about us, not to me," Stiles continued and the memory might be over a decade and a half old, but he remembers that winter day vividly. He remembered the exact moment where he'd looked at Derek, on a winter's night from across the street. How Derek had just stood there, looking back at him. How it had been crystal clear to Stiles that his place was in Beacon Hills next to this man who had defined him as youth and shaped him into the adult he'd become. He remembered how he'd realized that Derek had been waiting on him all that time. How he would continue waiting for Stiles forever if that was it was and all Stiles had thought back then was: 'oh'. 

He squeezed Derek's elbow again. "I've never felt like I missed out on anything, I was certain of you, of us."

Stiles stepped back and ran a hand through his hair, mussing up the strands as he tried to think of a way to make Derek understand something he had thought had been obvious.

"Jesus, Derek, you are my forever," he settled on, saying the words with more frustration than affection, but Derek's eyes grew soft and his shoulders relaxed and Stiles knew he'd said the right thing after all.

"Oh," Derek exhaled softly as he cupped Stiles cheeks with his hands.

"Yes, 'oh', you dolt." Stiles leaned forward, resting forehead against forehead. "I can't believe you didn't know this, we are so married it hurts."

Derek rubbed his thumbs over Stiles rosy cheekbones, his nose nuzzling Stiles'.

“We don’t have an anniversary,” he said quietly, not combative, his heart settled now by Stiles unwavering certainty.

“Didn’t really happen that way though did it?” Stiles replied, his mouth curved in a soft smile.

“You don’t feel we should have a date to celebrate?”

“I don’t think we can pick a date,” Stiles mused and took a step back to look at him, because even though he remembered that winter night, that wasn't really the beginning of them. They had started a long time before that winter night, before that first kiss, had been in love long before any of them had said it.

Stiles hands found Derek's, fingers tangling comfortably. “Does it matter to you? The date?” he asked because it had never mattered to Stiles but he understood the power of symbols and he knew that symbols where especially meaningful to Derek.

Derek thought about it then, about their tangled history, too convoluted, too labyrinthine to unravel, to find the single moment in time when they both decided to spend the rest of their lives together.

He thought about the past twenty odd years together then, the countless nights they spent sharing a bed (a couch, the floor, the backroom at the Veterinary), the mornings where they woke up next to each other, the birthdays and holidays, the days they celebrated and the days they mourned. His thumb rubbed over Stiles’ knuckles in an unconscious movement, muscle memory ingrained by time and habit. He leaned close and kissed Stiles softly.

“No, I don’t think it does.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well like I said, it's a series now. I'm still thinking about a decent name for it but I have brained too much and words don't go anymore.
> 
> I have planned approximately three more installments, though the rests are mostly just sexy hijinks.
> 
> Edit: Yes, still working on the other stories....


End file.
